Santaco in the Western Cape will decide on Wednesday whether they will join their national body’s call for taxis to operate at 100 percent
capacity.
Santaco provincial spokesperson Gershon Geyer said they had a meeting and would now consult with all the
associations before making a decision.
He says operating at 70 percent capacity as per government’s Covid-19 regulations has affected their members financially with some owners’ losing their vans.
“Our members are suffering because they can’t afford to pay for their taxis and they are being repossessed,” he says.
He said the government is also not helping them because they do not get any subsidy such as Metrorail.
Geyer says Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula was supposed to meet with Santaco Western Cape over the weekend but he cancelled the meeting.
Mbalula has slammed Santaco’s decision to flout regulations and operate at full capacity during the Coronavirus pandemic.
The taxi association threatened to block major roads if any taxis are impounded due to loading 100 percent.
They also said inter-provincial travelling would resume whether government likes it or not.
Mbalula said they condemn any call encouraging taxi operators to violate the law: “While we have expressed support for a review of loading capacity to 100 percent, until the current directions have been revised the legal loading capacity is 70 percent and enforceable by Law Enforcement authorities.”